Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson take stages at Texas

Kyle Larson regained his lead late after a cycle of green flag pit stops to win Stage 2 of Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway Speedway.

It was the Chip Ganassi Racing driver’s fifth stage win of the season. Larson has led a race-high 69 laps through the first two stages.

Larson was trailed by Stage 1 winner and fellow NASCAR Playoffs driver Kevin Harvick in second, followed by another four playoff drivers in Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin, to round out the top six.

Brad Keselowski was the next-highest playoff driver in the running order, in 14th, followed by Kyle Busch in 26th.

Jimmie Johnson was the lowest-finishing playoff driver in the stage, finishing 31st — three laps off the pace.

Kevin Harvick led a group of NASCAR Playoffs drivers who finished among the top 10 when Stage 1 concluded on Lap 85 of the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday.

Harvick, who recorded his sixth stage win of the season, took control of the lead from Kyle Larson on Lap 70 to pace the final 15 laps of the stage.

Four of the eight Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoff drivers in the Round of 8 finished among the top 10. Martin Truex Jr. finished second in the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota, followed by Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Ryan Blaney’s No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford was the other remaining playoff driver in the top 10, in eighth.

On the opening lap, contact between Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski sent both playoff drivers to the pits. Neither recovered fully, with Busch pulling in 30th and Keselowski 26th at the end of the stage.

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott (11th) and Jimmie Johnson (28th) were the other playoff drivers to finish outside the top 10 in the stage.

Finish

Driver

Team

Race points

1.

Kevin Harvick

Stewart-Haas Racing

10

2.

Martin Truex Jr.

Furniture Row Racing

9

3.

Denny Hamlin

Joe Gibbs Racing

8

4.

Kyle Larson

Chip Ganassi Racing

7

5.

Kurt Busch

Stewart-Haas Racing

6

6.

Erik Jones

Furniture Row Racing

5

7.

Matt Kenseth

Joe Gibbs Racing

4

8.

Ryan Blaney

Wood Brothers Racing

3

9.

Austin Dillon

Richard Childress Racing

2

10.

Daniel Suarez

Joe Gibbs Racing

1

This Moment in NASCAR History: Kes pulls off third consecutive win at wild Las Vegas in 2018Brad Keselowski won the playoff opener at Las Vegas last season after a wild race with 12 cautions. The win marked his third in a row and Team Penske's 500th victory all while punching his ticket to the next round of the playoffs.

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